Théo Leoni (born 21 April 2000) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

club

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

Career

Leoni moved from the youth ranks of R. Charleroi S.C. to Anderlecht in 2012. On 5 September 2017, he signed his first professional contract with Anderlecht. He made his debut for Anderlecht in the

on 30 October 2022 against

K.A.S. Eupen K.A.S. Eupen (short for Königliche Allgemeine Sportvereinigung Eupen, English: ''Royal General Sports Association Eupen'', simply referred to as Eupen) is a Belgian professional association football club located in Eupen, Liège (province), Prov ...

. He had been captaining

RSCA Futures RSCA Futures is the youth academy of Belgian club R.S.C. Anderlecht. The most senior team of RSCA Futures acts as Anderlecht's reserve team, and competes in the Challenger Pro League, the second flight of Belgian football. History On 14 Augus ...

in the

Challenger Pro League The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

, and been training with the Anderlecht first team since being promoted under former manager

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...

in 2019. A graceful left-footed playmaker, a debut in the first team prior to 2022 had been delayed by an initial lack of physicality but this part of his game developed with time. This development was to the extent that he has been described as “a revelation at number 8, the engine of the RCSA Futures”. Commenting after his debut at the relatively late age of 22, Leoni said he “had always remained positive” during his ten years at the club despite seeing players younger than him make first team starts before him. On 27 August 2023, he scored a stunning first goal for Anderlecht during a 2-1 home win against R. Charleroi S. C. in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

. On 17 August 2024, he made his 50th appearance for the club in a

match against

KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...

in a 1-3 away win, scoring the 3rd goal of the game. On 3 October 2024, he scored his first European goal in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

match against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, scoring the winning goal with a great volley from outside of the box.

International career

Leoni was born in Belgium to an Italian father and Spanish mother. He is a youth international for Belgium, having played up to the Belgium U19s.

Career statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leoni, Theo 2000 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgian people of Italian descent Belgian people of Spanish descent Men's association football midfielders R.S.C. Anderlecht players RSCA Futures players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players 21st-century Belgian sportsmen